That is nearly the perfect contact pattern/mount, I wish every block I temp tested made a contact pattern that good. You want a large bow covering the middle 3/4 or so of the IHS, the best testing blocks will have that pattern. That gives better temps than to have both IHS/block perfectly flat after tightening. Not to mention, If both are perfectly flat prior to mounting, when you tighten the block, you get lift off in the center and most pressure on edges.

Honestly, to me opt33's post is saying that he's got too much pressure on the chip, and it's causing the block base to bow, pulling the base up away from the cores in the middle of the chip. I would thing the ideal would be either this )( or this )| or this |(. It's like he's saying this (| is best????

Typically, most IHS are convex, and they are higher in the middle then at the outer edges.

Honestly, to me opt33's post is saying that he's got too much pressure on the chip, and it's causing the block base to bow, pulling the base up away from the cores in the middle of the chip. I would thing the ideal would be either this )( or this )| or this |(. It's like he's saying this (| is best????

Typically, most IHS are convex, and they are higher in the middle then at the outer edges.

Honestly, to me opt33's post is saying that he's got too much pressure on the chip...

Click to expand...

The color shows where the most pressure is at but it doesn't mean there is no contact or pressure in the center. I don't entirely understand how the contact paper works either but Opt33 has been around for awhile and quoted some of Skinnelabs work on the topic.

Regardless I think it still looks sexy though. I find the contact paper test helpful to at least know how best to position the block or what sides of the block I need to tighten down a little. I'm going to be doing direct die cooling with this block soon. I will do a contact paper test directly on the die as well.

I was hitting 76* with IBT on my 2600K. pretty sure when I tested that Noc, the CM slightly beat it. As for the AIO, well I never thought they were actually that good until Tt made theirs so not a complete shock there. That amount of difference does surprise me a bit, maybe my (812) sample was meh.

well, H100 is about 10C better than NH-C14. Of course, we are talking stock fans.

NH-C14, of course, is much quiter, while the H100 screams. The 812 isn't as loud as the H100, but it's pretty damn close.

It might be worth noting that this is using Artic Silver Ceramique, a huge tube I've had for probably 7 years, and that those number reflect my using a 3770K @ 4.6 GHz, with 1.2 V.

Perhaps the other coolers are not optimal for IVB. That makes sense to me with the NH-C14, due to the direction the pipes travel comapred to teh chip itself. I suppose the H100 might have the wrong direction as well, and I have noticed my unit "clicking" recently, which according to the info I have found, might be an indicator of pump failure due to PSU voltage.

I did not get my cooler via retail or form Coolermaster, it was sent by another OEM, so I do not know if that palys any role, but the box was sealed when I got it. I am also not usre about fna orientation affecting things, either.

well, H100 is about 10C better than NH-C14. Of course, we are talking stock fans.

NH-C14, of course, is much quiter, while the H100 screams. The 812 isn't as loud as the H100, but it's pretty damn close.

It might be worth noting that this is using Artic Silver Ceramique, a huge tube I've had for probably 7 years, and that those number reflect my using a 3770K @ 4.6 GHz, with 1.2 V.

Perhaps the other coolers are not optimal for IVB. That makes sense to me with the NH-C14, due to the direction the pipes travel comapred to teh chip itself. I suppose the H100 might have the wrong direction as well, and I have noticed my unit "clicking" recently, which according to the info I have found, might be an indicator of pump failure due to PSU voltage.

I did not get my cooler via retail or form Coolermaster, it was sent by another OEM, so I do not know if that palys any role, but the box was sealed when I got it. I am also not usre about fna orientation affecting things, either.

I'd stick with the Zalman CNPS Max. It's an awesome cooler. db levels are compareable to the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX but doeas a way better awesome job. I thought of noctua (the D-12) but in comparison I chose the MAX due to aesthetics and last but not least, performance.

I'd stick with the Zalman CNPS Max. It's an awesome cooler. db levels are compareable to the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX but doeas a way better awesome job. I thought of noctua (the D-12) but in comparison I chose the MAX due to aesthetics and last but not least, performance.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion.

Personally, I want watercooling. All this stress-testing of my CPUs is gonna take it's toll eventually, and really, no air cooler is gonna give me the "protection" I think I need.

This CoolerMaster cooler was given to me by a board company to use, just randomly. They told me they were shipping the board, and the cooler was in the box. It just so happens that there is some thermal paste included with the board, so I think they sent the cooler because of that.

I'm actually expecting Corsair to hook me up with another H100 cooler to use in my test rig. Right now I have two test rigs though..one for memory, which you see in the pic above, and one for boards. I need a cooler for each, so I can be testing two rigs at once. Memory testing takes a considerable amount of time compared to boards...doen right, it take a ful lweek of 8-hour days to do clock and CAS scaling for my memory reviews.

I'd stick with the Zalman CNPS Max. It's an awesome cooler. db levels are compareable to the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX but doeas a way better awesome job. I thought of noctua (the D-12) but in comparison I chose the MAX due to aesthetics and last but not least, performance.

Click to expand...

You know, I've been pretty impressed with my Zalman CPNS9900-MAX. When there isn't dust clogging up my intake filters, it does an amazing job. It really depends on airflow though. If you keep your machine clean, it will do wonders. I just wasn't very happy about mounting it on skt2011. The tool they give you is crap. At first i thought that I stripped the bolts, but come to find out I actually stripped the tool, which I guess is better since it is just a Torx.

All in all, I have my machine running at 1.36v right now and temps barely go over 63*C, fully loaded. When my PC is clean, 1.45v will put me just shy of 80*C at around 76*C, but I don't typically push it that hard on air since I don't like the temps, and honestly, 4.4-4.6ghz is plenty enough for me. I don't need to push push the voltages to their limits just to squeeze 4.8-5ghz out of it.